All Is Quiet In The Forest
by DappledKarma
Summary: Annie and Mikasa get in a fight over Eren. Awesomeness ensues.
1. Chapter 1

"Take me on," Mikasa said, to Annie, helping Eren back on his feet.

"I don't much like extra work," Annie said. "Especially when it doesn't benefit me."

"Why waste your time fighting Eren, then?"

"Because it's fun."

"When someone strong challenges you to a fight, you cower in fear?" Mikasa asked.

Eren gave her a disapproving look. "Mikasa... Annie's been teaching me how to fight better. She might be rough, but it's definitely worth it."

"It's fine, Eren," Annie said. "I didn't enlist to break my bones fighting. I joined so I could get a place in the all-so-glorious Military Police. Yeah, I'm scum, trash, a coward. But so are most people. Look around us, Mikasa. You think any of these people are here to seek vengeance against the titans, besides Eren? Of course not. They want to be safe within the confines of Wall Sina, as do I. Is there something wrong with that?"

"Yeah, there is," Mikasa said. "You're spineless and pathetic."

"I agree, but most normal people are. For good reason."

"And what reason is that?"

"We're weak." Annie faced Eren. "You plan on joining the Scouting Legion, right?"

"Yeah," he said. "I knew before day one that I was going there."

"Admirable, but foolish. You're heading towards an early grave. And you, Mikasa, you'll join whatever Eren joins? I think you're even more foolish than him."

Mikasa put a hand on Eren's shoulder. "He's the only family I have left. I can't not follow him."

"Unfortunately." Eren sighed.

"How cute," Annie said. "Is that why you decided to interrupt our training? You feel like I'll steal away your precious 'brother'?"

The black-haired girl didn't like that. "You're quite talkative today." Her eyes darkened. "Come on, teach me some of your moves. Let's have a friendly spar."

Of course, Annie knew fighting Mikasa wasn't going to be a simple friendly spar, but somehow the prospect of taking her on excited her.

"Well... my moves are intended for humans to use. I'm not sure someone like you needs them at all. But... I'm curious if they even work on a beast."

"Is this for real?" Eren asked, backing up.

Several of the other trainees overheard them. Among them Connie. "This isn't really about to happen, right?"

Sasha was in awe. "It's like a match up from a dream..."

"I think Annie's going to win," Bernholdt said.

"Huh?! Are you stupid?!" Jean yelled at him. "I'm betting my whole dinner on Mikasa!"

"Which one would you pick, Eren?" Reiner asked.

"Well, I..."

Annie raised her fists. Mikasa stood still.

Everyone in the crowd went silent. They watched the two girls stare each other down; one having the eyes of apathy, the other colder than ice. Neither would back down. Both wanted to see who would strike first.

Mikasa made her move. Her leg flew through the air faster than anyone could anticipate. Anyone not named Annie. She saw the high kick coming, braced her left forearm for it. When it struck her arm, she moved in tune with the attack to reduce the impact. It forced her off her feet. She rolled across the dirt, recovered, and backed off, rubbing her arm. That kick was even stronger than Annie thought it'd be. It could have fractured her arm if she took the full blunt of it. That strength, however, would be Mikasa's downfall.

"Say, aren't you a little too serious, Mikasa? You could really hurt me, you know."

"I knew you could take it. If anything, this is payback for Eren."

"Alright," Annie said. "No promises that you'll be unscathed after this."

"I could say the same."

They circled each other, slow steps leaving imprints on the dirt. Each took their respective fighting stances - though Mikasa's could hardly be called a stance.

She swept her leg up again, but feinted it into a left hook that Annie saw coming. She stepped back, the blow almost grazing her chin. Quickly she wrapped her own left arm around Mikasa's underarm and locked her arms behind the girl's neck. Annie swiped her foot backwards against Mikasa's calf. They both tumbled to the floor, the blonde girl on top.

"I win."

"Round one," Mikasa said as if to finish Annie's thoughts. She stared dead straight into Annie's eyes.

People in the crowd began whispering things in each other's ears, careful not to let the two combatants hear them. "I bet ten potatoes on Mikasa!" Sasha suddenly yelled.

The two girls ignored them, as they got up. They stood back a few feet away from each other, fought each other with their eyes once again.

"Don't kill each other now," Eren said.

Mikasa broke eye contact at the sound of his voice. In almost an instant, Annie snapped forward a single jab with her fist.

Mikasa caught it in her palm, without looking - her instincts were quick. Annie tried a left punch - Mikasa caught that too. Annie's fists trembled as she tried yanking them out of Mikasa's grip. She squeezed an iron grip on Annie's hands.

A bead of sweat formed on her brow as she gulped and tried ignoring the pain.

_How can someone be this strong, let alone a girl?_ Annie asked herself._ No amount of training will prepare you for a fight with a monster._ The thought made her chuckle. When given a choice to fight to the death Mikasa Ackerman or a titan, fighting the titan was probably the safer bet. In the end, however, it did not matter.

"A laugh, from you?" Mikasa asked. "That's a first. Care to share what's so funny."

Annie gave her a faint smile. "This."

She hopped up, sprang her feet forward. Her boots collided with Mikasa's chest.

The fighters hit the ground. Annie stood back up first, and distanced herself. When Mikasa arose, she cleaned off the dirt on her back and boot imprints on her chest.

"That was a dirty shot, you know," she said. Her stance matched Annie's own form now.

"I knew you could take it," Annie mocked. "But... you can't win this fight." No one could beat Annie in hand-to-hand combat. The experience she had in fighting human opponents dwarfed all the other trainees' knowledge. For every fight Mikasa had been through, Annie had fought a hundred times as much, with her father.

"Fighting Eren is one thing," Mikasa said. "Fighting me is entirely different. Let's go."

Mikasa sprang forward, her punch lighting-fast, but Annie caught it in her arm, twisted and tried throwing Mikasa over her shoulder down to the ground - only to fail. Mikasa, hanging low above the earth, held onto Annie's arm, legs ensnared her neck.

"You lose this time," Mikasa said. "If you so much as make a move, I'll squeeze your neck. No one wants to drag your unconscious body away."

Annie wasn't going to lose. She still had a free hand, and more importantly, resolve. Other than her father and herself, she only cared about fighting. She was proud of her skills. Mikasa would not take that feeling away from her.

Annie lifted Mikasa up and slammed against the ground as hard she could. Mikasa grunted but still held her, and she did just as she said she would. Not a single breath of air escaped Annie's throat.

"Do you yield?" Mikasa asked, slightly loosening her grip.

_I will not lose._ Annie struggled back on her knees. Mikasa tightened her hold. With her free hand, Annie slugged Mikasa in the face hand several times. Crimson red began painting her knuckles.

"Hey, you two, that's enough!" Armin said.

"Mikasa, Annie! Enough!" Eren ran towards them.

"Shit!" Reiner said, trailing behind Eren.

Eren pulled Mikasa away while Reiner did the same for Annie. The oxygen in her lungs returned as she gasped.

Her neck was red and sore.

"You should have yielded," Reiner told her.

"I don't lose," she said.

"Yeah, you don't, but you tied. Even if you kept hitting her, you'd have went out cold."

"Whatever." Annie looked at Mikasa.

Her lips were bloody.

"Are you alright?" Eren asked her, lifting her chin and examining her lips.

She didn't look him in the eyes. "This is nothing."

All the others surrounded them.

"Damn, that was crazy!" Jean said.

"Don't scare us like that!" Krista said.

"That looks bad." Armin lent out a hand for Mikasa. "Let's get you checked out."

She took it as Eren pulled her up.

Reiner lifted Annie back on her feet. "Don't go all being reckless like that again."

Annie said nothing. To think Mikasa equaled her in hand-to-hand left a bitter feeling in her chest.

"Um, guys..." Sasha said, "head instructor incoming!" She dashed off.

Keith Shadis approached, eyes as dead as ever. He brought with him an air of suffocating fear. Almost everyone shuddered in his presence. He stood in the middle of the crowd, his eyes surveying the area like a vulture. Then his gaze stopped on Mikasa.

"Ackerman, what happened here?"

She gave him a salute, lips red. "Sir, Annie and I were sparring, when she accidentally struck my face. It is not her fault, I urged her to get more serious."

_Why would she help me out? If she's expecting a favor, she'll be disappointed._

The head instructor considered Mikasa's story for a moment, then turned to Annie.

"I don't expect this kind of mistake from you, Leonhardt. You're to head for the forest and collect firewood. I don't want to see you back here until dinner."

She begrudgingly saluted. "Yes, sir." _Oh joy. Extra work._

"As for you, Ackerman, head to the infirmary. I want you running ten laps after you get that patched up. Do you feel that is a suitable punishment for your poor decision-making skills?"

"No, sir."

Everyone had a look on their face. The "What the hell did just you say?" kind of look, but they all stayed silent.

_What is she thinking?_

"I believe," Mikasa continued, "Annie's punishment is befitting for me as well."

The head instructor nodded. "Sharing punishment with your comrade, I like it." He turned his back to them. The crowd made way for him. "Everyone else, back to training unless you feel like running two dozen laps!"

"Yes, sir!" They all saluted in unison.

He looked each of them in the eye. "Oh, and if any of you happen to stumble upon Sasha Braus, eat to your heart's content in front of her, but share _nothing _with her." The corners of his lips twisted upwards.


	2. Chapter 2

Bars of orange sunlight shone down through specks in between the green leaves. Annie laid the thirtieth stack of firewood near the forest entrance. Her hands glistened with sweat. She thought about how ironic her situation was. One of the few times she actually practiced hand-to-hand was the one time she was punished.

Behind her, Mikasa was holding a stack on her right shoulder, another on her left hip. Part of the right side of her lips were purple and swollen. Beads of sweat were forming on her face. Everywhere Annie went to collect branches, she followed in silence.

"Don't expect an apology or thank you from me," Annie had told her, when they first ventured into the forest. "We need as much wood as we can get, or Shadis will give us even more work. For now, don't bother me, and I won't bother you." Annie sensed the feeling of unfinished business they shared, but it could wait.

Mikasa understood, nodded. "We'll talk later."

Once they gathered a decent amount of wood, Annie lay back against a tree, wiping off the sweat on her brow. Mikasa placed the wood near the others. She sat cross-legged in front of Annie.

"Well?" Annie asked.

"Eren's a hard worker, isn't he?" The black-haired girl averted eye contact. Her voice was low.

"Certainly diligent. He lacks talent though. His imitations of my techniques are certainly amusing."

"Why are you so tough on him?"

"Because he needs to get tougher. He's a big boy, right - a man?" _And watching an idiot like him refuse to give up is... almost inspiring,_ Annie kept that to herself. "If he can't fight a weakling like me, do you think he stands a chance against anything that lies beyond the walls."

It seemed Mikasa read her mind, judging by the way she slightly pursed her bruised lips.

"Don't be so rough on him..." she said quietly. "He doesn't need broken bones."

_Funny, coming from you._ "What are you, his mother? No. If he's fine with my training, you should be too. And if you're not, well, it's not like you can stop it either way."

"He doesn't need your training... or you, for that matter." Mikasa stood up, locked eyes with Annie. "I will protect him. I will make him stronger. _I'll_ train him."

"Are you sure you don't mean another type of training?" Annie asked. Mikasa grabbed her by the collar of her uniform, lifted her up with both hands, and pinned her against the tree. For a moment's silence, they glared into each others eyes. Then Annie spoke once more. "Let's get straight to it. You're jealous, aren't you?"

"...Answer me this," Mikasa said. "Do you... do you have feelings for Eren...?" Her hands were trembling slightly.

Annie sighed. She thought about the everlasting fire in Eren's large blue-green eyes. She thought about the camaraderie she shared with him. She thought about the warmth of his body whenever her own pressed against it during their fights. She thought about how, like herself, he scarcely smiled, and how she wanted to see that change. She thought about how irrational her thoughts were now. Her face warmed a little.

"I don't dislike him."

Mikasa released her grip, and distanced herself, back faced toward Annie. "I have a proposal." She turned her head enough for Annie to see a single dark eye. "We'll fight. I win, you stay away from Eren. You win, I won't bother you about him... you can do as you like..."

"Alright, I accept," Annie said. Beating Mikasa was her main goal, anyway, regardless of the circumstances behind it. "But I do have a question. Do you really think you're fully capable of protecting him?"

"Of course. I've watched over him since the day we met... Titans nor you will stop me from doing that."

"Get real. Eren's better off in my hands. While you shelter him when you get the chance, I make him stronger. Can you do that?"

Mikasa's lips twitched. "I can."

"I doubt it," Annie said. "If you can't handle me kicking his ass, you can't."

"What you teach him is useless against titans. Why do you even bother, really, training him? I don't believe 'because it's fun' is a good enough answer. Is it because you want him to join the Military Police alongside you?"

That question sparked something in Annie's mind. _Could that be why we're together so much, so I can convince him?_ The thought faded almost as soon as it appeared. "The reason is..." _What's the reason? Why am I hesitating?_ She clenched her fists.

"I think that's enough," Mikasa said quietly, before raising her own fists. Her eyes hardened. "Ready?"

_That's more like it._ "Yeah." Annie matched her adversary.

A wisp of wind blew through the air. Leaves quietly rustled, like they were speaking to each other, anticipating the fight and who would win. Annie breathed in, out. Mikasa stood still as a statue, unblinking.

Then all was quiet in the forest, when they came at each other. Mikasa threw a fist, but Annie launched a foot against a shin, sending Mikasa a foot off the grass. To Annie's surprise, she rolled onto a knee and swept her leg against the blonde's calf; she went down, but her hand found the ground, and she got to her feet.

Mikasa rammed her boot into Annie's gut, knocking out her breath. She grabbed hold of it, spun on her heels and fell back, and threw Mikasa. Unfaltered, she spun in midair, then through grass before standing up.

Annie went for a low kick, and Mikasa pushed it back with her heel, jabbed, but Annie slapped it away and delivered a quick blow to her side. Mikasa staggered. With all her strength, Annie drove a fist into Mikasa's stomach. She grunted, shot out her arms, her fingers gripped around Annie's collar. That's when Mikasa's forehead collided against Annie's.

The world went black for a few seconds, then became hazy. Somehow Annie was on the dirt and grass, head thumping and aching tremendously. Mikasa was on top of her, hands still tight on her uniform's collar. Then she raised a fist, probably intent on giving Annie a swollen lip as well.

Mikasa didn't swing her hand; it remained in the air.

"Come on, do it already," Annie said, pride wounded. Anger and sadness took over. With the current pain in her head she knew fighting was no longer an option. Another pain persisted, too, in her chest. _Eren..._

Mikasa still had her fist up, but there was hesitation in her eyes.

Annie clutched a handful of grass and dirt, irritated. "Waiting for me to say something? That you're better than me? That you're better for Eren? What, what is it?"

Mikasa lowered her arm to her side and uncurled her hand.

"You remember the deal?" she asked. "It's off."

"Why?"

"Because I just realized I'd rather have him join the Military Police with you than join the Scouting Legion. He'd be a lot safer, and I value that over me training him to fight titans any day. I know I'm unable to sway him, but perhaps you can." She got off Annie, offered her hand. _Is this really Mikasa Ackerman looming over me?_

For some reason Annie felt a wave of relief. She accepted the hand, and rubbed her forehead. "What's your head made of? Twenty pounds of steel?"

That made Mikasa smile faintly. "Sorry I hit you so hard."

What Annie would say next, was something she made a habit of not saying. "I'm sorry too. About your lip."

"It's fine, I've had worse bruises."

"You'll get more once we fight again." Annie smirked.

"I look forward to it, but I think it's safe to say we need some time not killing each other. We should hurry back to the base."

Annie nodded as they headed for the firewood stacks. "So when we fight next time, will it be for the sake of seeing who's better, or will it be for Eren's love?"

"..." Mikasa answered. She had turned her head away from sight.

"Relax. It's a joke. But I am curious of something; have you given up your love for Eren?"

Mikasa turned back, eyes determined, face blushed.

"No."

* * *

**A/N: That's the end. Hope you enjoyed! **


End file.
